"gonna take some time to do the things we never have" -toto

i have mentally taken notes through out this life changing experience. i have literally taken notes too. i took 1,035 pictures and videos, but still…there is no real way for me to explain the experience of traveling to kenya. the beauty….it would take me all day of scanning a thesaurus to come up with the words. i can only say that you should in fact go visit yourself. 

before our departure, many people expressed their concern and worry for our safety. the notion of traveling to africa, a place we are told is rivoted by poverty, health epidemics, starvation, and violence. let it be known that africa is in fact a continent. much like new york city or the grand canyon couldn't possibly be the representative for all of north america (much to the protest of the often neglected canadians) one cannot label such vast space as any one thing. we traveled to kenya, one country among 53 nations on the continent of africa. within kenya, we traveled to the capital city of nairobi and then an island off the coast, lamu. to even remotely state that i have seen kenya would not be accurate. to encompass the trip as 'going to africa' is even more misleading. all i can say: the experience totally blew my mind. no matter the effort i put forth, this blog entry will hardly cover any of it. it really was that amazing. that in itself, is a wonder to be hold. to be in the moment, knowing you are living memories that will last a lifetime. my cup constantly runneth over…

here it goes:

so the seventh annual townes van zandt tribute night that eric hosts which benefits WCBE (it is fundraising time, y'all. donate to your local npr station right now!) was a usual success. i unexpectedly took up the role of merch peddler as it was the debut of the eric nassau beard tshirts!  

they turned out wonderful, all thanks to the amazing peeps at traxler tees. contact eric about getting one for you and your friends today! needless to say, we danced, imbibed  and stayed out far too late for folks who were traveling across vast oceans the following morning. a few last minute packing freak outs and we were headed to port columbus airport. the trip was finally here!

i will eat your face.

our first leg of many flights was to newark, nj. we then had six hours to just hang out in the newark airport until our next flight. i was all fired up to do some vegan food reconnaissance. as always, there are always plenty of vegan junk food options, but you best put your detective hat on to find some actual food. a japanese restaurant had a few options, but the real gem was finding bertuchi's…comprised of pre-made vegan meals. and man, this shit was gooood. 

serious nomz

however, swiss airlines, my new favorite airline, was super accommodating. onward to zurich! 

the flight was long. we tried to practice our swahili, simultaneously tethered to the iPod. i am sure their were movies being played, but we didn't take notice. we may have slept. when we arrive in zurrich, we are on a quest to find a specific swiss chocolate for one super hot rotarian, miss erin corrigan. we filmed dance videos and took in the clean swiss design and immaculate cleanliness. we begin to board the plane and i look to eric, 'where is the guitar?' i ask. not only does he not have the guitar but he responds with ' i don't know". we had been all over the zurrich airport, it could be anywhere. mild panic begins to form as we excuse ourselves from the boarding line. yes, the plane is currently boarding and the whereabouts of the guitar that we were so generously given to donate to the children should be etched on the side of a milk carton. w.t.fuuuuuuuuuuck. eric scurries off into the minimalistic structures in search as i anxiously await his return at the gate. i am now sweating through my shirt. i see a little straw hat bopping in the distance, it is eric running….with the guitar. <exhale> phew. just in time to board the plane. our first disaster adverted…

that is the swiss alps, y'all!

we fly over the swiss alps, in between dozing off and reading travel books, swiss airlines constantly feeds and waters us. 

swiss airlines veg food. quite good, actually.

we touch down in nairobi, exit the aircraft to find the lovely emily waiting for us. 

hey, girl

emily instructs us to use the kenyan citizen line at customs as we have visas. some of the perks of having assistance. eric breezes through while my customs teller seemed to be less than amused with my mzungu ass in her line. 'are you kenyan?' she asks me. i sheepishly respond 'well, mam, i have visa…' with the upswing on the last syllable like a spelling bee contestant unsure of their submission. 'that doesn't make you kenyan' she barks as she stamps my passport. whatever, lady. i am IN! lets go!

as we go to collect our bags, police officers begin to surround eric. they say something about needing to look in his bag. they take him away, off in a back room, just like you hear in customs horror stories. my dad donated flashlights, complete with a sleeve of batteries that eric was toting. apparently, it looked like ammunition. eric and the police officer had a friendly banter establishing the swahili word for 'ammunition' and its meaning. all was well, but eric's sweetness left him missing the officers corruption ploy of requesting a cup of coffee now that he had been cleared. welcome to kenya, where money can buy you….well, anything. at least it buys the government….and it is done outright, unlike behind our american closed doors. M.F.T #1. MFT=mzungu fun time, a term coined from the experience one can have simply by being a pale foreigner. i bet it is hilarious to be on the giving end of a MFT dose….

we wait at the airport for the others to arrive. i am super sleepy, but enthralled by a local music troupe playing traditional tunes and dancing. and so it begins. we load into a van and get our first taste of nairobi traffic. there are virtually no traffic lights or street signs. there are no lines marking the lanes of the road. they drive on the left side, steering wheel on the right, like jack nicholson busting through the door in 'the shining'. total maniacs. as we sling through nairobi, it looks like any major city. i am beginning to think it was all hype and stereotypes, just as we turn onto what becomes a much more rural road. and the term 'road' is generous. the driver weaves forward, avoiding severe potholes and jutting rocks. we go through the small village of Zambezi, complete with tin roofs, trash scattered in gullies and random donkeys on the side of the road. we finally arrive after a very bumpy ride to what we were told was a bed and breakfast. it is in fact a government run, forrest research center. it has a giant, looming gate with 'kefri forrest research center' hand painted on the wall. directly below was 'this is a corruption free zone'. whaaat?? we would refer to this as kefri house and also our home for the time being. a guard opens the gate and the van drives through. it is nearly midnight in nairobi, yet some people at kefri had the most glorious meal waiting for us. a special vegan plate just for me. the food was phenomenal. potatoes, greens, bananas. all prepared with consideration and comforting flavors. we all felt obligated to eat every bite, but the portion sizes were very large, even to our super sized palates. we all split off into our respective rooms. a strong smell of  clay fills the air. after a not so restful sleep and an interesting breakfast, we head out to rafiki farm. more time spent on the worst road in nairobi. we arrive to see a truly working farm. 

the technical school, donated by the newark rotary club of ohio

we get a very detailed tour….it is very impressive to see what they have done with the resources donated. almost the entire place has been donated by various groups from ohio. they are growing their own food. (and it is delicious!). they are raising livestock, using cow dung to generate methane gas to cook with.  

jambo cow!

they have pigs and piglets! up some very sketchy stairs that our group would be restoring during our visit, they house rabbits. so much for not petting animals…

the children pour out of the technical school for what appears to be recess. we ask if we can go play with them and….so it begins. we enter the fenced in area with a brightly colored playground soon to be mauled by the most beautiful children all dressed alike. despite the sweltering heat, many of the children wear the sweater of the uniform, some even with winter hats. they run towards us, extending their hands. they are so precious. when i asked them if they like to sing, this is what took place: 

the affection the children have for one another could make you cry. the older ones pick up the littler ones when they fall down. brush them off and send them on their way. they help each other with their jumpers after the bathroom. they hold hands and hug, always touching. i really can't explain the experience with the children. it was dynamic and momentous and really, there are no words for it. 

the manager, amos tells us he just had a large banner made for the concert. he unrolls it on a large table in the mess hall. it shows the various kenyan artists, muziki team from the USA with our logo and then eric nassau, usa and a picture of jim henson. they went on to eric's Facebook page to pull a picture and they ended up with jim henson. how do you translate celebrity doppleganger week in kiswahili? oh brother…

we walk back to kefri. the roads are even strenuous to walk on, let alone drive. we are then picked up by our new friend, andrew. we got connected to him through a kenyan friend living in columbus. we only had his phone number, we had never met him prior to our visit to nairobi. we handed our cell phone to a random guy on a moped to tell andrew where kefri house was located. in a matter of time, andrew shows up and we all pile into his car. 

nairobi traffic is so crazy. he takes us to a great look out spot and we get to see the nairobi skyline. 

he then takes us to a cute outdoor bar where we have our first of many tusker beers. TUSKER TIME! 

andrew gitonga, one cool mutha...

andrew then takes us to the nyayo soccer stadium. the rangers vs. sofapaka. we were the only wazugus there. terry and erin were already at the stadium. in our excitement to see our friends, i suppose we kind of skipped over to them. the band was playing, i love futbol, i guess we were excited. a large crowd began to cheer for eric and his beard. oh do they LOVE the beard over there. 

the sofapaka beauties

the next morning, we woke up stupid early to venture out on many tourist-y activities. first stop, nairobi national park. our own little safari. 

the eric nassau specialty: the multiple self-portrait

it is here we meet a man i would fall completely in love with, our driver, jimmy. his smile lights up his entire face, he laughs easily and often and his patience abounds with our butchering of the language.

the wazimu mzungu handbook

jimmy's friends brother's matatu soon converts in a movie worthy safari vehicle and we all peek our heads out of the roof.

the morning was lovely and spotting wild animals was fun. we took to naming each animal a conventional human name, like gerald, which jimmy found hilarious.

we then went to the sheldricks elephant and rhino orphanage. these little babies were so cute and playful.

jimmy then took us to his friend's restaurant that specializes in fish. i explain to jimmy that i am a vegan and then explain what vegan is, something i would do a lot through out the trip. i know it is hard to believe, but you can really make do just about anywhere you go. he has them bring out a couple of fish for the group to share, prepared in different ways. i ask if i can just get the vegetables and jimmy relays to the waiter. the food was fantastic!

lunch just landed on yo plate!

the vegan version. eat your heart out, popeye.

after lunch, we filled one of my lifelong fantasies: sitting on karen von blixen's porch! 'i had a farm in africa…..' omg, dreamy!!! i read the book 'out of africa' and own the movie of which i have seen a million times. i love the story, i love the characters. robert redford washing meryl streep's hair out in the bush while reciting poetry may be the most sensual cinematic scene, ever. we got to tour the home and it was magical.

we then headed over to the giraffe center, where we got to feed a giraffe. she was a beauty. and had some pretty gnarly breath.

i could really go on about this forever. obviously...

and i haven't even gotten to the two concerts we put on! and then the part where i get violently ill and the trip to the islamic island of lamu. i shall try for more tomorrow...